How to decipher your DREAMS - do not read dream dictionaries!
When you are (if you are) on your road of self-discovery and growth, you will sooner or later find that it is quite useful to look at your dreams and try to decipher them. The biggest mistake you can do is visit one of those sites with dream dictionaries. DO NOT do that. Dreams are a part of your subconscious and/or your inner/higher self. They have nothing to do with other people and their interpretations. I am probably going to piss some "spiritual" people with this post but let me assure you that I am not saying your beliefs are wrong and what you discovered to be the "ultimate" truth behind some symbols is wrong. It is right for you, but not for everyone because not everyone is you. Actually, no one is you except you. If you do feel that you are right and have some sort of universal dream dictionary that is absolutely true, contact me on discord, I will happily explain to you that you are wrong :) I do however hope that you will see my point of view from this post so keep your smile on and read on. If you are new to dream deciphering, allow me to take you on a happy journey into the "magical" land of dreams.
Symbols are your own
Let's do a little thought experiment, shall we? Imagine that you are holding a knife in your right hand and a flower in your left. When you look at that knife, what do you see? Do you see a murder weapon, a tool to spread butter on your bread or something to cut your vegetables? Now, look at the flower. Do you see a pretty plant that smells and looks nice or do you see a poison that could kill someone if you put it in their soup? Are you starting to get my point? Ok, throw those knife and flower away and imagine that you just had a dream where you were standing in front of a lion. Were you afraid that lion was gonna eat you or was he going to give you a message?
Knife can mean many things, just as the flower and the lion. There is NO universal symbols in your dreams. Even if you actually see a symbol of peace in your dream that does not have to represent peace. Hearts do not always mean love and tears do not mean sadness. To figure out what things, from your dreams, really mean you can not find the answer in dream books or online. You need to figure it out for yourself and just like with any other thing in your life, this one depends solely on your effort. What you give, is what you get. There are however some general guidelines that may help you in your decrypting, but the first and the most important thing to realize is that your dreams have symbols that ONLY YOU will understand and that they do not even have to mean the same thing in your every dream.
Your dreams are messages only for you. They hide valuable treasures that your subconscious/higher-self/inner-self/Universe/God/call-it-what-you-like needs to tell you. You can have a lot of fun with finding their meanings that can provide practical solutions to some everyday problems.
HOW to decipher a dream step-by-step
Keep in mind that this is my way of doing things and that it has been proven beneficial to me. That does not mean it will work for you. Try it out and see for yourself. The worst thing that can happen is that you will think for a while instead of typing "dreams explained" in Google.
1. WRITE THEM DOWN
This is kind of obvious. We often forget our dreams pretty quick and how could you decipher something that you don't even remember. You can type them in a notebook or by using your computer. Either way, do this as soon as you wake up because they fade away fast.
2. FOCUS ON THE MAIN THEME
Try to remember the theme or the main character of your dream. Was it you or some event? Describe that thing and explore your feelings about it. You need to remember how you felt in the dream (if you felt anything at all) and how are you feeling when thinking about it. Both are important.
3. FIND THE DETAILS
After remembering the main thing, spread your memory and write down all the details that were there. Maybe there were some colours, sounds, other people or images. What was the scenery like? Write it all down and again, figure out how it made you feel and how it is making you feel now as you are writing it.
4. THINK FOR THE FIRST TIME
This is the fun part. Read what you have written and analyse it. Do not worry, it will get easier with time and if you do not understand what it means, that is fine too. Take your personal experiences into account. Think of your life and your dream and try to find a connection. What can things in your dreams represent? Sometimes, your feelings are the best guides. If you are scared of something in your life and then dream of a dog that scares you, great chances are that the dog is that thing that you are afraid of. It is a symbol of it. Now try to remember all about that dog in your dream and connect it to your life. This is why you had to write down your feelings. Write your analysis and all your conclusions down and go away. Forget about it for a while.
5. THINK FOR THE SECOND TIME
Come back after a couple of hours or even a day. Read your dream again and read your first analysis. Now do the same thing again, just as you did with the first analysis. You will have a different mindset and maybe you will get to the same conclusions and maybe you won't. Either way is fine. If you have two different analysis, the final answer is in their joining together. Mix them up and make a third and final analysis. The more you do this, the better result you will get. Just do not stress about it and do not overthink it too much. Your thoughts should flow naturally and in a relaxed manner. There is a possibility that you will get this fast and of course, maybe you won't. Nothing bad will happen if you do not get it on your first or even your tenth time. Explore your psyche and do not give up.
Dreaming is fun, remembering a dream is fun and thinking about it is fun. If it is not, do not do it. This is not something that you should take as another stress factor in your life. Yes, you can gain a lot from it, but only if you approach it as a lovely and joyful experience, not a responsibility that will take much of your time. Play with it. You will see that you will get better and better in time. You will not only understand your dreams, you will understand your self. Have fun dreaming. I wish that you are always blessed with sweet dreams.
To read about another interesting topic regarding dreams that I wrote about, follow this link:
Lucid dreaming - being aware that you are in a dream and the ability to control it
Unsourced images are under CC0 License and are free for personal and commercial use. You can find them at pixabay.com. To check out the people who made these particular photos, check their profiles here: Lysons_editions , ElisaRiva, Comfreak & darksouls1
For more of my "Philosophy of happiness" posts, please follow these links:
- Panic attacks - a heart-attack monsters
- Contrasting experiences lead to appreciation
- A TABOO topic, shhh...
- Why do you hate Mondays?
- Lucid dreaming - being aware that you are in a dream
- Mirror, mirror, on the wall...
- Personal journey to a land of mental disorders and back
- FAKE smiles are unhealthy
- What are the ROOTS of the embarrassment WEED?
- Why do we and how do we learn ANYTHING?
- How to train your brain to be positive
- Do you KNOW how to love and be loved?
- What is the philosophy of HAPPINESS?
- Are you carrying emotional WOUNDS or emotional SCARS?
- THE BRAIN talking about A BRAIN
- Science behind "THE CHANGE" and why are we so good at procrastination
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I completely agree with you, sometimes i get to know what is good for me in my dreams , even some time i have seen god guiding me..... ;-)
@adityajainxds #thealliance
Thank you for your lovely comment, it is nice to hear that you liked the post 💚
Some great-sounding suggestions for understanding dreams @zen-art, and good point about not bothering with what other people claim they may mean for me. I also like the emphasis on the detail of how I feel during the dream and when noting it down after waking up. I've been keeping a note of dreams for the past 3 years, some are striking! However, being a smoker of weed, I find I don't often remember them :D.
Thanks
🚣
Just avoid dream journals and everything should be fine. Weed can be helpful if you use it in a normal amount :D
I never taught of analyzing my dreams, I just perceived them as echoes of my subconscious, not really meaningful. I might really take up on your tips. One question for you - I read somewhere that it is impossible to dream numbers. Is it true?
I dreamed numbers, no I would say that it is possible. Numbers 4 and 1 usually. Everything from your subconscious is important, that is a part of you. 💚
Talking about dreams is my favorite. If you and I meet I am sure we can chat for hours.
I see all my life events in my dreams and my major life points I kind of start seeing them a year or more before. Thankfully I remember all my dreams veey well when I get up cause they are so clear and sharp.
I also do this veey consciously to keep commanding my senses to give me clarity of my life in my dreams. Also my loved ones who have passed over I can so easily connect with them in my dreams.
Wonderful post my dear @zen-art
I am too sure that we could talk for hours. I am happy to hear that you are opened enough to receive messages from beyond in your dreams, they are so lovely and comforting, right? Thank you for your lovely comment 💚
Make perfect sense. I think I'm going to try your process next time and see how I feel about it. Thanks for sharing!
Good luck, I am sure you will do great 💚
I think I will have to start writing down my dreams after reading this post. I was always interested in topics such as this as you very well know by now. Everything in life is about practice and if you want to get better you have to work to get better. :)
So that is what I will do and hopefully, I will remember more and more and than I will just bug you in DM on Discord all day, every day. Just a heads up. :)
Great presentation tonight. I hope you get over you cold ASAP. Have an amazing day Petrice. :)
You should definitely start writing your dreams down, I thought you have been doing that already, ccc. Thanks for your kind words honey. 💚
Fascinating! Your advice about "no universal dream symbols" is good, something I have believed for years — our lives lead to much subjectiveness, but many people hang their interpretations on other peoples' archetypes. Thanks for sharing this lovely post in #whaleshares 😊
I think people use other peoples' archetypes because they are lazy to work on it themselves, they want quick answers. Thank you for reading it and leaving a lovely reply. 💚
I have to agree with you on this as it is OUR subconscious trying to tell us something that is apparent but our waking mind is either avoiding, not acknowledging or even unaware of.
I had kept a dream journal before and it become a source for my short stories that I publish on another blog site. It helped me understand the idea behind the dream for me to be able to interpret it on my own.
Yeah, a dream journal can be a great source of inspiration for stories :)
Dreams have always fascinated me, your advice and process of writing them down and analyzing is something I did back in the 80's but have gotten away from, may have to revisit that concept.
I agree that the books are not the bible when in comes to interpreting the symbolism in dreams.
Good luck with that revisiting when you find the time. Just remember that it should be fun and play with it.
First I have to sleep more :)
You pointed out a few very good points about which I did not think until I read your post.
Yeah... Sleeping is the first and most important thing you should do if you want to have a dream, lol. Good luck with that 💚